COLUMBUS, Ohio -- With the normal opening night excitement palpable, the Boston Bruins overcame two, two-goal deficits to top the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-3 at Nationwide Arena on Thursday night.

"I didn't think we played that bad," said Bruins head coach Claude Julien. "We had two mistakes that were costly (first period), and that was unfortunate. But it was just a matter of getting ourselves back in the game."

Brad Marchand and his linemates were the Bruins catalysts in the comeback. Marchand dished out three helpers in the second period before scoring two goals in the third to seal the victory.

"It was a good way to start the year," Marchand said. "The big thing from tonight that we have to take away is the character we showed. It's a lot of fun when you come back from a two-goal deficit and win."

Marchand's linemates, offseason addition David Backes (two goals and an assist) and David Pastrnak (two goals and two assists) also played a large role in the victory.

"You could see some of the nerves and the squeezing of the sticks in the first period," said Backes. "They got the 4-on-4 goal and then it doesn't take them long to score on the power play. But I think we responded really well and showed a lot of the character in this room."

Seth Jones had a goal and an assist and Alexander Wennberg and Cam Atkinson scored a goal each for the Blue Jackets.

The Blue Jackets scored just 2:58 into the first period when Wennberg carried the puck through the neutral zone before sniping the puck past Bruins' goalie Tuukka Rask. Jones and rookie Zach Werenski got the assists.

"I thought he played a good game tonight," Jones said of his defensive partner Werenski, "and moved the puck very well. Obviously, we're going to have to communicate more in some areas, but it is (just) the first game. I thought we were pretty good, but obviously we can be better."

Atkinson scored at 17:25 of first period off a snap feed from Nick Foligno across Boston's goal-mouth for a 2-0 Blue Jackets advantage. Wennberg notched his second point of the night with the secondary assist.

"We had a good start," said Foligno, "and then we got a little bit comfortable. We played into their hands with some bad mistakes, and that can't happen. It's a learning thing for us, as I did like our start and I think that we can play like that all game."

Pastrnak scored at 2:36 of the second to halve Columbus' lead after Jones whiffed on a clearing pass.

"We talked before the game that we were going to have to communicate," Pastrnak said, "especially down low and in our zone. I think that's what helped us most, you know?"

Jones restored Columbus' two-goal lead at 7:44 of second, as he got the puck through traffic and past Rask.

At 15:36, Backes tucked away a rebound of towering defenseman Zdeno Chara's point shot to get the Bruins back within one goal, 3-2.

Less than two minutes later, Backes got his second goal of the game after redirecting a shot from Pastrnak to tie the game at 3.

"Tentative, sloppy... you can use a lot of different words," said Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella. "I don't have an answer for it. Obviously we have to find it. It goes right through our team. Don't put this (loss) on our young defense."

Marchand scored the go-ahead goal on a rebound from Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky at 9:54 of the third period, making it 4-3.

"When you get down," Marchand said, "you want to push hard. Everyone wants to push hard. And that's what happened. We got more in-sync, too. We were playing the system a lot better. The 'D' was pinching and guys were backing each other up."

Marchand scored again to give the Bruins a 5-3 lead at 15:25 of the third period.

"I think we showed some resiliency," Julien said, "and I think we showed some character. It was nice to see guys step up and find a way to win the hockey game.

"For David Backes to step in there and replace one of the best forwards in the league (Patrice Bergeron) was important."

With Bobrovsky pulled for the extra Columbus skater, Pastrnak potted an empty-net goal to cap the scoring.

NOTES: Each team had four rookies playing in the game ... Columbus D Zach Werenski and D Markus Nutivaara made their NHL debuts ... Boston F Austin Czarnik, F Danton Heinen, D Brandon Carlo and D Rob O'Gara made their NHL debuts ... Columbus D Cody Goloubef (oblique) is on injured reserve. RW David Clarkson (back), D Dillon Heatherington (wrist) and G Joonas Korpisalo (groin) were also out. ... Boston C Patrice Bergeron (lower-body) and D Adam McQuaid (upper-body) are day-to-day, with D Kevan Miller (hand surgery) out six weeks. ... Bergeron, Joe Morrow and Tim Schaller were scratched for Boston. ... Dalton Prout, Lukas Sedlak and Scott Harrington were scratched for Columbus.